A High Uintas Bookshelf

In this column we’ll list 2-4 interesting articles, books or the like that have caught our attention. They aren’t necessarily recent or recently read-- sort of a random compilation. Within a year, hopefully, we’ll have an established and detailed reading list. It won’t be complete without your additions. Please send suggestions and a descriptive sentence or two.

This month's reviews are by HUPC founding member Andy White and Dick Carter

To See Every Bird on Earth: A Father, a Son, and a Lifetime Obsession. Dan Koeppel. 2005. Penguin Books. Reviewed by Andy White.

While not as politically or philosophically deep as many on this shelf, and not devoted to wilderness per se, this book gives an intriguing look at one endeavor often pursued in the wilds. Along with exploration of family and father/son relationships, Dan Koeppel follows his father’s quest to see… well, a lot of birds. By book’s end he has tallied more than seven of the currently classified ten thousand plus species.
Sprinkled with vignettes from Audubon to New York City birding clubs and ornithological stamp collecting, it’s a first read that you can put down, but can’t forget. If you have ever kept a list of even a few birds, you are in for a treat.

High Country News. 25 June 2007. The New Conservationists. Hal Herring. Reviewed by Dick Carter.
This article describes the growing influence of Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, which started right here in Utah as a result of the success of our former Utah Wildlife Manifesto. It is a startling discussion of just how potent, yet how ecologically illiterate this group is and how their focus is entirely on hunting and, in particular, killing predators. The only weakness with the story is that it fails to follow the trail of how such power was grabbed-- western state wildlife agencies have provided the cover for the growth of SFW.

Orion. July/August 2007. Ten Dispatches about Place. John Berger. Reviewed by Dick Carter.
I knew when I sent this article to many of my peers and colleagues that the response would be vigorous. The opening and ending sentences stopped some in their tracks with observations that this is about a make-believe world that never, can’t and shouldn’t exist to the second sentence being the deeply understated. While I think it is true, and deep, I’ll leave it to you.